This is somewhat of a shower thought. Let's say there is a person with the same capabilities as superman. Would that person actually be able to stop an Asteroid from hitting earth? I can only image that a person with superhuman strength and speed would directly fly through the asteroid, not really stopping it but drilling a hole into it.

Edit: I guess too many think of this as a superhero question. Think of the person trying to stop the asteroid as a super hard, human shaped object hitting the asteroid at a high speed.

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    $\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this question because it is about the capabilities of a fictional character and not physics. $\endgroup$ – Kyle Kanos Apr 2 '17 at 19:08
  • $\begingroup$ @KyleKanos You are wrong, it's not about the hero, it's about what he would represent. Think of a human shaped object that would hit the asteroid from below like bullet. $\endgroup$ – Redbeard Apr 2 '17 at 19:55

true, if the surface area of contact is tiny (which is true considering the asteroid is of radius ~5km and a human can only have a contact area of a metre at max) the pressure would be large and would indeed drill a hole.

if the human has some method by which he can apply same force but say on a balloon which doesn't burst and can transfer the force onto the asteroid, he might be able to do it.

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